RE: Superb Update16 Sep 2025 15:34
Chat GPTs view:
the “micro-trades” you’re noticing (like 3 shares worth less than £1, or 10 shares worth ~£3) often raise eyebrows because, as you said, the commission/fees would normally be larger than the trade itself if done by a retail investor.
Here are the most likely explanations:
1. Market Maker “UTP” (Up Tick/Down Tick) reporting / signaling
Market makers sometimes make “tiny” trades at odd sizes (1, 3, 10, 29 shares, etc.) as part of keeping the order book balanced, testing liquidity, or moving the mid-price slightly.
Some traders believe MMs also use micro-trades as a form of signaling to each other (almost like coded messages), though this is debated. More likely, it’s just the mechanical effect of order-matching and reporting.
2. Residual order fills
When a larger order is matched across multiple price levels, you can get “scraps” — tiny fills that show up as standalone trades (e.g., the last 3 shares of a 10,000 order).
These aren’t intentional small trades by themselves, just the remainder of a bigger execution.
3. Algorithmic trading
Algo-driven trading (including market makers’ bots) often breaks large orders into many small ones to reduce market impact.
Some algos even test the market by pinging it with tiny trades to see if liquidity is there before committing to size.
4. Retail trades — but rare
It’s possible, though less likely, that some private investors are genuinely placing micro-trades (perhaps through fee-free brokers like Freetrade, Trading212, etc., where the “fees are zero”).
If the platform charges zero commission, then £5–£10 trades make more sense, though 3 shares worth under £1 is still unusual.
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